India protests to PakNEW DELHI, April 21
 India today lodged a "strong" protest
with Pakistan for the brutal assault of an Indian
diplomat in Lahore and said necessary protection and
security be provided to all officials of the Indian High
Commission in Islamabad. Pakistan Deputy High
Commissioner Khalid Khattak was called to the External
Affairs Ministry and a strong protest was lodged
regarding this incident.

BJP holds demonstration against
Sonia
NEW DELHI, April 21  In a move to draw public
attention, some MPs belonging to the BJP and its allies
today held a noisy demonstration at the main entrance of
Parliament House opposing any move to make Congress
President Sonia Gandhi the Prime Minister.

India
major nuclear exporter
NEW DELHI, April 21  India has emerged has
a significant exporter of high-technology nuclear
material, including heavy water, equipment and
nuclear medicine components to a large number of
countries from South Korea to the USA, Britain,
Indonesia, Syria, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Egypt,
states the annual report of the Atomic Energy
Commission for the year 1998-99.

Left parties meeting
called offNEW DELHI, April
21  Five Left parties who were due to meet here
today, postponed their meeting following non-passage of
the Budget.

TDP puts up brave front
HYDERABAD, April 21  Braving the defection of its
MP, Mr S. Vijayaramaraju to the Congress, the Telugu
Desam Party today asserted that the party was united and
accused the Congress of resorting to unabashed
horse-trading.

Newspaper
staff strike today
NEW DELHI, April 21  Newspaper and news
agency employees all over the country will
observe a strike tomorrow to protest against wage
disparities in the proposed recommendations of
the Manisana Singh Wage Board.

Alternative govt wont last:
Kanshi
BUXAR (Bihar), April 21  Bahujan Samaj Party chief
Kanshi Ram today said that any alternative government at
the Centre would not last long.

HC directive to UPSCNEW DELHI, April
21  The Delhi High Court today directive the Union
Public Service Commission to devise a mechanism to
ascertain from the government the exact number of
vacancies in bureaucracy before a notification for the
civil services examination every year.

3 personnel of TN House suspended
CHENNAI, April 21  Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P.T.
R. Palanivel Rajan has suspended three personnel of the
Assembly library for copying down the House proceedings
from March 22 to 24.

Sagar
appointed DVB chiefNEW
DELHI, April 21  The former Adviser to the
Chandigarh Administration, Mr Jagdish Sagar, has
been appointed as the Chairman of Delhi Vidyut
Board.

Retrenchment of teachers stayedNEW DELHI, April
21  The Central Administrative Tribunal has stayed
the retrenchment of nearly 500 contract teachers in
various government schools.

Facelift planned for Khajuraho
KHAJURAHO, April 21  The temples in Khajuraho,
renowned for erotic sculptures, are getting a face-lift
with the Archaeological Survey of India undertaking a
major overhaul of the 1000-year-old structures and
authorities working on a conservation and
sustainable development strategy for them.

NEW DELHI, April 21
(PTI)  India today lodged a "strong"
protest with Pakistan for the brutal assault of an Indian
diplomat in Lahore and said necessary protection and
security be provided to all officials of the Indian High
Commission in Islamabad.

Pakistan Deputy High
Commissioner Khalid Khattak was called to the External
Affairs Ministry and a strong protest was lodged
regarding this incident, an official spokesman said.

Mr P. Ravindranathan, an
attache in the Indian Mission in Islamabad, was in Lahore
on April 20 on liaison duty with a group of Sikh pilgrims
from India. As he emerged from the offices of the Waqf
Board on the premises of Gurdwara Dera Sahib yesterday
evening, he was accosted and brutally beaten up by three
persons. He sustained serious cuts and bruises on his
face, necessitating his admission to a hospital.

The spokesman said a
senior official of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of
Pakistan conveyed "deep regret" at the incident
and assured Indian High Commissioner G. Parthasarathy
that the matter would be thoroughly investigated.

A report from Islamabad
said a case had been registered with the Pakistan Police.

This is the second major
incident of assault on an Indian diplomat in Pakistan
within a year. Earlier, an attache with the Indian High
Commission was seriously assaulted here immediately after
New Delhi and Islamabad carried out nuclear tests in May
last year.

Indian High Commission
staffers and other Indian working here have also
complained of frequent threats and intimidation.

NEW DELHI, April 21
 In a move to draw public attention, some MPs
belonging to the BJP and its allies today held a noisy
demonstration at the main entrance of Parliament House
opposing any move to make Congress President Sonia Gandhi
the Prime Minister.

Mr Rajput, who had
vehemently opposed the womens reservation Bill
earlier, demanded that the President should not allow
"a person of foreign origin to become the Prime
Minister". He further said that they would not
object if anyone else from the Congress or even Mrs
Gandhis son Rahul or daughter Priyanka were chosen
for the post.

Mr Rajput told reporters
that since Mrs Gandhi had never contested any election,
she did not have the moral right to become the Prime
Minister. He said he would sit on fast if anyone of
foreign origin was made the Prime Minister.

The protesters,
displaying banners carrying slogans "Sonia Gandhi
murdabad", "Videshi ka sapana sakar na hoga,
phir se desh gulam na hoga (Dreams of foreigners will not
be realised, the country will not be once again
occupied)", and "Congress neta sharam karo
(Congress leaders, you should be ashamed)", staged
the show before the Lok Sabha met for the day to pass the
Union and Railway budgets. Mr Ramanand Singh, Mr Amrik
Singh, Ms Sangita Singh Deo, Mr J.P. Mishra and Mr
Ratilal Verma were among those who took part in the
demonstration.

NEW DELHI, April 21
(IPA) India has emerged has a significant exporter
of high-technology nuclear material, including heavy
water, equipment and nuclear medicine components to a
large number of countries from South Korea to the USA,
Britain, Indonesia, Syria, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Egypt,
states the annual report of the Atomic Energy Commission
for the year 1998-99.

The most important
nuclear export from India is of 100 metric tonnes of
heavy water which the Heavy Water Board exported to the
Republic of Korea in May 1998. India and South Korea had
signed an agreement in 1996 on heavy water exports from
this country to South Korea. A sample of heavy water was
exported in 1997-end while the bulk of the export was
completed in May 1998. South Korea has found Indian
exported heavy water to be of international quality and
negotiations are on the anvil for export of a further
consignment of heavy water by Indias Heavy Water
Board.

The Board of Radioactive
Isotope Technology (BRIT) carried out big nuclear export
orders in the outgoing year consisting of more than
45,000 consignments of radio-isotopes and related
equipment to the UK, Indonesia, Syria, Nepal, Sri Lanka
an Egypt. BRITs exports also included consignments
of radio-pharmaceuticals for use in nuclear medicine
which could cover about eight lakh patients.

A notable export is by
BARC to M/s Hughes Space and Communications Centre, USA,
through Antariksha, an ISRO organisation. BARC produced
beryllium assemblies for supply to the USA firm, the
order having been executed after the May 11 and 13
nuclear tests.

Also notable is
BARCs export of 500 thoria buttons to the USA; RIA
reagents to Egypt; liquid injection system and gas
apparatus for radio-tracer experiments to Bangladesh; TLD
badges to Saudi Arabia and software for age estimation to
Hong Kong University.

Another high-technology
nuclear export from India is under a programme of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Under this
programme, BARC exported 81 ANUGMI-S, interface cards for
the gamma camera. ANUGMI-P, a more versatile interface
card for acquisition of nuclear medicine imaging data,
was installed in the country recently at the Institute of
Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS). The
Gamma-Camera-Interface Cards through the IAEA have been
exported to Latin American, Asian and African countries.

Electronics Corporation
of India, a unit under the Department of Atomic Energy,
has introduced a number of hi-tech products of strategic
importance in 1998-99, some of which are available for
exports. The company expects to export products worth Rs
1.4 crore in the coming months.

NEW DELHI, April 21
 Five Left parties who were due to meet here today,
postponed their meeting following non-passage of the
Budget.

Senior leaders of the
CPI, the CPM, the Revolutionary Socialist Party, the All
India Forward Bloc and the Peasants and Workers Party
were to meet here to resume discussions on formation of a
government.

Mr D Raja, national
secretary of the CPI told TNS that "informal
consultations over formation of an alternative government
are on. He added that apart from a meeting of senior
leaders of the Left parties with the president of the
Samajwadi Party, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav in the evening,
telephonic consultations are possible.

He added that the
Leftist parties are awaiting a call from the President,
who has started the process of holding talks with leaders
of various political parties. "We expect that the
President will call our party general secretary, Mr AB
Bardhan by tomorrow, but this has nothing to do with the
meeting of the Left parties.

Mr Abani Roy, RSP MP
said he did not know why the Left parties had decided not
to hold the meeting in the evening. He reiterated that
the RSP remained firm in its stand of opposing both the
Congress and the BJP.

HYDERABAD, April 21
(PTI)  Braving the defection of its MP, Mr S.
Vijayaramaraju to the Congress, the Telugu Desam Party
(TDP) today asserted that the party was united and
accused the Congress of resorting to unabashed
horse-trading.

Jointly addressing a
press conference here, the TDP general secretaries, Mr
Lal Jan Bashan and Mr C. Manik Reddy, alleged that the
desertion of Mr Vijayaramaraju, a Scheduled Tribes
member, representing Parvathipuram in Vizianagaram
district, was part of the Congress's gameplan to tarnish
the image of the ruling party.

The TDP, which has 12
members in the Lok Sabha, excluding Speaker G.M.C.
Balayogi, would make all efforts to block the Congress
from coming to power through the backdoor, they said.

The TDP leaders,
however, evaded a question on why no action was being
initiated against Mr Vijayaramaraju for switching
loyalties. "We are examining the issue", they
said.

Asked about the
confusion in party circles over its continuance of
support to the BJP, they said "our main aim is to
thwart evil designs of the Congress and to achieve this
we have been extending issue based support to the
BJP".

Meanwhile, TDP leader
and state Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has
convened a meeting of the Telugu Desam Parliamentary
Party (TDPP) here tonight to formulate the party's
strategy vis-a-vis the alternative government at the
Centre.

NEW DELHI, April 21
(UNI)  Newspaper and news agency employees all over
the country will observe a strike tomorrow to protest
against wage disparities in the proposed recommendations
of the Manisana Singh Wage Board.

The decision to back the
strike call was reiterated by the national coordination
committee of Newspaper and News Agency Employees Unions,
representing nine All-India unions, in a statement today.

The coordination
committee welcomed the statement by Indian Newspaper
Society (INS) President Mammen Mathew that no decision
had been taken by the wage board yet but expressed
surprise at the remarks made by the INS spokesperson at
the April 5 meeting that working journalists deserved
salary comparable with office staff of some remote sugar
mill.

The statement said it
was interesting to see the INS finally "waking up to
the reality of a looming industrial relations disruption
in newspaper establishments as a result of what is
happening in the Manisana Singh Wage Board.

It said the INS
president could have averted the strike if he had
intervened and dissociated his organisation from the
position taken by the INS spokesperson at the April 5
wage board meeting.

The statement said that
as wage levels in the newspaper industry are fixed on
well-established principles of wage parity, the
affirmation before the wage board was the "clearest
indication that salaries of all staff,
journalists and non-journalists alike, were going to be
downgraded.

Alleging a
"nexus between the INS and the wage
board, the coordination committee said the working paper
produced by the wage board secretariat had been prepared
entirely on the basis of claims of the INS, ignoring the
"massive evidence produced by staff
unions.

The committee warned of
"more action if the wage board did not
discard the working paper in favour of a fair and
reasonable wage revision.

BUXAR (Bihar), April 21
(UNI)  Bahujan Samaj Party chief Kanshi Ram today
said that any alternative government at the Centre would
not last long.

Addressing different
rallies at Dumrao and Dhanloi in Buxar district, Mr
Kanshi Ram said the country would witness general
elections within the next six months and exhorted his
party workers to gear up for facing the elections.

The Bahujan Samaj Party
chief said that the country was mortgaged to the
'Manuvadi forces' and his party was trying its best to
free it from such forces.

Justifying his party's
decision to vote against Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee's
confidence motion, he said as the Bharatiya Janata Party
was "pushing forward the wrong policies", it
led to the political crisis in the country.

He said the Rabri Devi
government in Bihar would be remembered for the number of
massacres which took place during her regime.

NEW DELHI, April 21
 The Delhi High Court today directive the Union
Public Service Commission (UPSC) to devise a mechanism to
ascertain from the government the exact number of
vacancies in bureaucracy before a notification for the
civil services examination every year.

A Division Bench
comprising Mr Justice Arun Kumar and Mr Justice Manmohan
Sarin issued the direction on a petition by Common Cause
on behalf of some candidates who had passed the written
test for the 1998 civil services examination.

The UPSC should
try to get proper input about the likely number of
vacancies (in bureaucracy) prior to the issuance of the
notification for the civil services examination,
the court said.

The petition was,
however, dismissed by the court, saying it was not
maintainable and there was no cause of action.

Common Cause counsel
Meera Bhatia told the court that the number of vacancies
for the 1998 civil services examination were reduced
drastically, depriving those candidates of
being called for an interview who had qualified in the
written test.

She said the UPSC had
advertised 740 vacancies for 1998, but these were reduced
to 470 after written examinations.

Government counsel H.S.
Phoolka told the court that the UPSC had no method to
know the exact number of vacancies. The figure given in
the notification every year was tentative
based on the available posts in the previous year.

However, for 1998, the
notification was issued on the basis of 1996 vacancies,
he said, adding that 982 candidates were called for the
interview.

CHENNAI, April 21 (UNI)
 Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P.T. R. Palanivel
Rajan has suspended three personnel of the Assembly
library for copying down the House proceedings from March
22 to 24, relating to the assault on Agriculture Minister
Veerapandi S. Arumugam by AIADMK Legislature Party leader
R. Thamaraikanni and the sentence awarded to him by the
House.

This came to light after
question hour in the House this morning when AIADMK MLA
P.R. Sundaram pleaded with the Speaker to revoke their
suspension as they were innocent. He, himself, had asked
them to copy down the proceedings as they were voluminous
after the Madras High Court had sought the copies of the
proceedings in the case, challenging the sentence awarded
to Mr Thamaraikanni. Hence, any punishment should be
meted out to him for asking the library personnel to copy
down the proceedings, he added.

The Speaker said Mr
Sundaram had asked the three personnel to help him,
stating that he would inform the Speaker about it.
Did you ask me before seeking their
assistance, he asked.

He also asked Mr
Sundaram whether he was willing to stay out of the House
during the rest of the session.

Referring to Mr
Sundarams plea to revoke the suspension, the
Speaker said he would tackle the issue himself.

NEW DELHI, April 21
 The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has
stayed the retrenchment of nearly 500 contract teachers
in various government schools.

A two-judge bench
comprising Mr Justice T.N. Bhat and Mr Justice S.P.
Biswas, also issued notice to the Delhi Government on a
bunch of petitions filed by the aggrieved teachers asking
the state government to file a reply tomorrow and said
those who continued in the service till March 31 would
not be sacked till further orders.

The petitions filed by
the teachers alleged that they were sacked by the present
government on political considerations despite the fact
that about 5,000 posts of post graduate teacher, trained
graduate teachers, (TGT) and assistant teacher were lying
vacant.

They alleged that the
government ordered the retrenchment of 1007 contract
teachers in various categories on the ground that they
had a backdoor entry to the schools though their
appointments were made through advertisements.

The petitioners sought
that they should be allowed to continue in service till
regular appointments were made and that they should be
paid the same salary as granted to other regular teachers
in various categories.

After the court granted
a status quo on their petitions, about another 300
aggrieved teachers moved CAT, seeking stay on the
government orders against the continuation of their
services.

KHAJURAHO, April 21
(PTI)  The temples in Khajuraho, renowned for
erotic sculptures, are getting a face-lift with the
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) undertaking a major
overhaul of the 1000-year-old structures and authorities
working on a conservation and sustainable
development strategy for them.

While the ASI has
embarked on a major restoration process, an expert team
of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural
Heritage (INTACH) conservationists has worked out a
development strategy that aims at making the
world heritage site a model tourist destination.

Even as the shrines are
undergoing renovation, the ASI further plans to open up
all platforms of the temples and reconstruct them using
proper material to strengthen them, says Mr Ashok Kumar
Soni, Conservation Assistant with the ASI.

After the
construction of the temples 1000 years ago by the
Chandela rulers, the repairs carried out from time to
time have been piecemeal in nature, and as a result you
see various varieties of stones in the platforms and
staircases of the temples.

We plan to open up
the platforms gradually and repair them properly so that
they become what they were originally, says Mr
Soni, who coordinates ASIs work at the temples.

While water
tightening of the western group of temples have
almost been completed closing all the cracks in them to
prevent water seepage, currently chemical conservation
and cleaning of the temples are on, he says.

The same
operations will be applied onto the eastern group
too. All this will be effected over a longer period
of time considering the minute nature of the work
involved.

Another major repair
work currently on is the rebuilding of the left
sub-shrine of the Lakshmana Temple having done the same
with the right sub-shrine.

They had got
tilted due to some problem with the base. We took out the
foundation, documented each layer physically and
photographically and then have started the reconstruction
using specific materials. It is a very time consuming
process, says the ASI official.

Built between 9th and
12th century AD, Khajuraho initially had 85 temples but
only 25 survive today.

The ASI is also studying
the effect of tourism on the monuments, especially with
the ever-increasing number of tourists who get drawn to
this sleepy town for the sculptures.

We are studying
how many tourists should visit a particular monument at a
time. The tourist flow into the temples should be reduced
to prevent their decay through touch, Mr Soni says.

CALCUTTA April 21 (UNI)
 The birth centenary of Debaki Kumar Bose, the
first-ever Indian film director to win an award abroad,
will be celebrated here from April 28. Boses film
Sita (Hindi) won an award at the Venice
International Film Festival in 1934.

The West Bengal
Governor, Dr A.R. Kidwai, will inaugurate the centenary
celebrations at Nandan where a retrospective of his films
will be screened besides a seminar, Debaki Kumar
Bose  the Director and the man, the next day.

Naxalites blow up rice
millHYDERABAD: Naxalties of the banned
Peoples War Group (PWG) blew up a rice mill owned
by a ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader at Irukudu
village in Medak district of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday.
The police said six militants went to the rice mill owned
by the Siddipet Market Committee Chairman, Mr Srinivas
Reddy and blasted it with explosives, in protest against
the killing of eight Naxalites of the Dubbak Dalam in an
encounter on Thursday last.  UNI

Newspaper office attackedCUTTACK: Supporters of the Biju Janata
Dal (BJD) on Tuesday stormed the office of Samaj, the
largest circulated Oriya daily published from here, and
allegedly assaulted a journalist. The attackers were
protesting against a particular news item published in
the newspaper. They first entered the chamber of the
acting Editor, Ms Manorama Mohapatra, and argued with
her. When other employees of the establishment
intervened, one of them hit the Assistant Editor, Mr
Kananbihari Das, injuring him, the police said. 
PTI

CBI seeks more
time for probeNEW DELHI: The CBI on Wednesday sought
further time of two months from the Delhi High Court to
complete its probe into the killing of Dr S.K. Tanwar, a
family consultant of former Congress President Sita Ram
Kesri. Submitting the fourth status report on the
progress of investigation before a Division Bench
comprising the Acting Chief Justice, Mr Justice Devinder
Gupta, and Mr Justice K.S. Gupta, the CBI counsel said
the agency expected to expedite the probe within two
months. The court after perusing the report returned it
to the CBI and adjourned the hearing to July 29. 
PTI

Kokborak made
official languageAGARTALA: Tribal Kokborak has replaced
English as the main official language in Tripura Tribal
Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), official
sources said. The language was introduced at a simple
function at the TTAADC headquarters at Khumlang, about 25
km from here on Tuesday, by Tripura Education Minister
Anil Sarkar.  PTI

Dry spell hits
cash cropsGANGTOK: An unprecedented dry spell for
the past six months in the state has had a telling effect
on all its major cash crops, including large cardamom,
ginger and vegetables. Earning from these crops and
vegetables form the backbone of Sikkims economy.
The SOS messages to the capital from the district
authorities in the tribal-dominated west and north
Sikkim, where the major portion of the cash crop of
cardamom have wilted under the severe drought conditions,
have fallen on deaf ears so far, sources said. 
UNI

Kedarnath temple
reopensRUDRAPRAYAG: A large number of devotees
visited the Himalayan shrine of Kedarnath for darshan on
Wednesday as it was reopened with the traditional
jalabhishek. The Kedarnath temple is situated
at a height of 11,750 feet in Rudraprayag district of
Uttar Pradesh. It is closed every winter. The devotees of
Lord Shiva reach Gaurikund from Rishikesh by road. After
that a 14 km stretch to the shrine is covered on foot or
on horseback. Todays ceremony was attended by
nearly a hundred devotees.  UNI

National Anthem
in sign languageNEW DELHI: Mukti 55-year-old dance
teacher at The Delhi Foundation of Deaf Women (DFDW) has
composed the National Anthem in sign language. Deaf and
dumb since childhood, she says her dream is to change the
world of those like her for the better. One of the
founders of the DFDW, which is holding the concluding
function of its silver jubilee year here from April 23 to
27, Mukti wants even those without hearing and speech
disabilities to learn the language of the deaf and the
dumb.  UNI

Radio waves will
weaken: expertsNEW DELHI: Short radio waves, needed for
long-range communication, will fade out by the middle of
next century due to increasing pollution load in the
lower atmosphere, experts warn. Short-wave signals travel
through upper atmosphere which would change in the next
few decades as more and more green house gases like
carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, methane and sulphur
dioxide would accumulate in the lower atmosphere, Mr A.P.
Mitra, emeritus scientist at the National Physical
Laboratory (NPL), said here.  PTI